Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins stabbed with ‘sharp toilet brush’ in jail over drug debt

Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins was stabbed with a “sharp toilet brush” in prison last year, it has been revealed.

The disgraced former singer is currently serving a 29-year sentence, with a further six years on licence, in HMP Wakefield for various child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a child.

In August 2023, The mirror reported that Watkins was attacked and taken hostage by three other inmates on August 5. After being found and freed by officers, he was taken to hospital.

A Prison Service spokesman told the media: “Police are investigating an incident which took place at HMP Wakefield on Saturday. We are unable to comment further while police investigate.”

Police went on to share an update on Watkins’ health, writing in a statement: “West Yorkshire Police were alerted by staff at HMP Wakefield to an assault on a prisoner on the afternoon of Saturday 5 August . He was taken to hospital, where his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Investigations are ongoing.”

Now, as reported The mirror, it has been claimed the ‘Rooftops’ singer was stabbed with a sharp toilet brush over a drug debt. An account in the new book Life behind bars in Monster Mansion by Jonathan Levi and Emma French detailed that the stabbing was due to Watkins having a £900 ($1,150) drug debt.

The book also reveals the disgraced singer “spent thousands on protection” while in prison because fellow inmates looked down on him. They explained that harsh justice is “particularly likely” to be meted out to pedophiles in prison.

“The recent stabbing was a reminder that he has to pay. Took a quantity of spice from a prisoner with a prison value of £150. Because he was Watkins, he was told he owed £900. It was big and refused to pay; therefore, he was stabbed in the side using a sharp toilet brush,” reads an account in the book (via The mirror).

Another prisoner told the authors that Watkins is ‘hated by many’ but because HMP Wakefield is mixed and full of ‘VPs and high-level gangsters, drug importers and organized crime, they just take money from him for his safety”.

Watkins was jailed in December 2013 after pleading guilty to 13 sex offenses at Cardiff Crown Court, including the aforementioned attempted rape of a child, conspiracy to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault which involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images. of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sexual act on an animal.

So far, the former singer has spent more than a decade behind bars and is eligible for parole in 2031. In 2019, he hid a phone in his anus, which led to an extended sentence.

In 2017, it was reported that Watkins nursed a mother from his jail cell. The 21-year-old’s child was later taken into care after social services were alerted to her contact with the disgraced singer.

“We are sickened,” an NSPCC spokesman said at the time. “It’s absolutely amazing that he could continue to care. It shows contempt for the children he abused and raises serious questions about surveillance.”

At the time, Wakefield prison officials were said to have found “nothing untoward” in their exchanges of letters and emails. Meanwhile, a Lincolnshire Police spokesman added: “We will always take steps to protect vulnerable adults and children.”